« Reply #7 on: September 28, 2012, 08:20:56 pm »
I've got a 1976 issue Spanish Pirelli on the front of my 350 squarie Maico. A mate was moving house back in 1998 and while cleaning out his garage found the tyre that had come as standard equipment on his 1976 360 Pursang back in the day. He pulled them off and replaced them with Metzlers and forgot all about the Pirelli until he gave it to me. It was still soft and supple and had no cracks so onto a Maico rim she went. That bike was regularly raced until 2006 and the tyre has hung in there like a new one. It's funny that my 3 year old Michelin dirt track tyre already has wall cracks but this old thing is still hanging in there 36 years after it left the factory and 14 years after its second life on the Maico started.
I've also got a 1979 release Bridgestone (the one with the weird block pattern) that had come stock on a Honda CR250 RZ mounted on a Maico wheel that was used until recently. In fact Daryl Lewis almost won pre 70 at the Coffs Nats on the bike using that vintage tyre combo.
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'68 Yamaha DT1 enduro, '69 Yamaha 'DT1 from Hell' '69 DT1'Dunger from Hell, '69 Cheney Yamaha 360, 70 Maico 350 (2 off), '68 Hindall Ducati 250, Hindall RT2MX, Hindall YZ250a , Cycle Factory RT2MX flat tracker, Yamaha 1T250J, Maico 250 trials, '71, Boyd and Stellings TM400, Shell OW72,750 Yamaha